The White House encourages Santelli, on purpose — This is very simple. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs went out of his way today to blast CNBC's Rick Santelli for his “rant” yesterday against Obama's mortgage assistance plan. The early press reaction asks why the White House …

Gibbs V. Santelli: He Should Read President's Plan (VIDEO) — Rick Santelli, the CNBC reporter who went into a certifiable rant against the Obama housing plan Thursday, found himself in the White House bullseye 24-hours later: the object of scorn and humorous derision from the president's press secretary Robert Gibbs.

Darrel Thompson Jumps Off Burris Ship — Acting Chief of Staff to Senator Roland Burris, Darrel Thompson, has resigned his position, according to senior staffers in the US Senate. — Darrel Thompson, a former Senior Adviser to Senator Harry Reid, had been dispatched by Senator Reid …

Laissez-Faire Capitalism Has Failed — The financial crisis lays bare the weakness of the Anglo-Saxon model. — It is now clear that this is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and the worst economic crisis in the last 60 years. While we are already in a severe …

More Darwin — Update: 2pm CST: (I've rewritten most of the post so that it reflects the current state of affairs. Many comments below were made before the storefront was open, so that is why they say what they do) — So, I made some Darwin artwork that parodies the famous Shepard Fairey Obama poster.

Obama Administration Shoots Down LaHood Mileage Tax Idea — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood floated the idea to tax motorists based on how many miles they drive rather than how much gasoline they burn. — FOXNews.com — President Obama's transportation department slapped down a suggestion …

Bill Moyers: The Power of Outing — If it weren't for his Power of Myth series where he introduced Joseph Campbell to a broader audience, Bill Moyers would have contributed little to our national discourse. He has otherwise dedicated his career almost exclusively to destroying Republicans.

Obama Widens Missile Strikes Inside Pakistan — WASHINGTON — With two missile strikes over the past week, the Obama administration has expanded the covert war run by the Central Intelligence Agency inside Pakistan, attacking a militant network seeking to topple the Pakistani government.

Obama's Durban Dalliance — Does an anti-Semitic conference deserve U.S. participation of any kind? — Last December, we wrote that an “early test” for the Obama Administration would be whether it participated in a forthcoming U.N. conference on racism, better known as Durban II. Uh, oh.

CHU JUMPS IN ‘DEEP END OF THE POOL’ — From NBC's John Yang — Energy Secretary Steven Chu may be a Nobel laureate Ph.D. in physics, but his first forays into energy policy suggest he's a neophyte when it comes to the ways of Washington. — At a forum with reporters on Thursday …

Stock Market Gives Obama's First Month An ‘F’ — Editor's Note: Liz Peek is a financial columnist and the author of wOw's Wall Street Weekly and SHEconomics. — Today marks the one-month anniversary of President Obama's inauguration. In his brief time in office, the president …

US soldier guilty of Iraq murder — A US soldier has been convicted of murder for his involvement in the killing of four Iraqis who were shot and dumped in a Baghdad canal in 2007. — Sgt Michael Leahy Jr had confessed to investigators that he shot an Iraqi in the back of the head from close range.

President Puts Mayors “On Notice” for Wasteful Spending — President Obama put the nation's mayors “on notice” that if they spent stimulus money wastefully he would call them out publicly. — Speaking in the East Room of the White House to more than 70 mayors — four of whom were Republicans …

RNC sends $250K for Coleman recount — The Republican National Committee has transferred $250,000 to the Minnesota GOP to help pay legal fees in Norm Coleman's ongoing recount battle against Al Franken for the Minnesota Senate seat. — A spokesman for the RNC, Alex Conant …

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